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Surgical Technology

Principles and Practice

  • 9th Edition - October 30, 2025
  • Latest edition
  • Author: John D. Ratliff
  • Language: English

Prepare to deliver the best patient care before, during, and after surgery with this approachable guide to surgical skills and operating room procedures. In addition to covering… Read more

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Description

Prepare to deliver the best patient care before, during, and after surgery with this approachable guide to surgical skills and operating room procedures. In addition to covering all the content in the AST Core Curriculum, this one-of-a-kind text offers a unique mentoring approach and engaging learning features that make even complex skills and techniques easy to understand.

Key features

  • Comprehensive coverage addresses all areas of the AST Core Curriculum for Surgical Technology
  • Reader-friendly writing style and organization builds content from fundamental concepts, aseptic technique, and the role and function of the surgical technologist, to the specialty surgical procedure chapters
  • Consistent chapter format breaks down surgical procedures in an easy-to-understand way that helps you understand the key elements of more than 200 procedures
  • Approximately 1,150 full-color illustrations and clinical photos bring concepts and procedures to life
  • Robust practice opportunities include review questions and case studies at the end of each chapter, along with additional review questions and surgical practice videos on the Evolve companion website
  • Learning features, including learning objectives, key terms, references and bibliographies, key concepts, and Important to Know boxes, keep you on track and organized as you move through the chapters
  • Pathology appendix summarizes the most commonly seen pathological processes and organizes them by body system

Readership

Students in Surgical Technology programs

Table of contents

PART 1 SURGICAL TECHNOLOGY PRINCIPLES

1. Surgical Technology: The Profession and the Professional

2. Health Care Facility Structure and Environment

3. Communication and Teamwork

4. Medicolegal Aspects of Surgical Technology

5. Death, Dying, and the Psychosocial Needs of the Patient

6. Diagnostic and Assessment Procedures

7. Environmental Hazards

8. Energy Sources in Surgery

9. Disaster Preparedness and Response

10. Microbes and the Process of Infection

11. Decontamination, Sterilization, and Disinfection

12. Surgical Instruments

13. Principles and Practice of Aseptic Technique

14. Surgical Skills I: Planning a Case, Opening, and Start of Surgery

15. Surgical Skills II: Intraoperative and Immediate Postoperative Period

16. Moving, Handling, and Positioning the Surgical Patient

17. Surgical Skin Preparation and Draping

18. Perioperative Pharmacology

19. Anesthesia, Physiological Monitoring, and Postanesthesia Recovery

PART 2 SURGICAL TECHNOLOGY PRACTICE

20. General Surgery

21. Minimally Invasive Surgery

22. Robotic-Assisted Surgery

23. Gynecological and Obstetrical Surgery

24. Genitourinary Surgery

25. Surgery of the Ear, Nose, Pharynx, and Larynx

26. Ophthalmic Surgery

27. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

28. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

29. Orthopedic Surgery

30. Neurosurgery

31. Vascular and Microvascular Surgery

32. Thoracic and Pulmonary Surgery

33. Cardiac Surgery

34. Pediatric Surgery

35. Emergency Trauma Surgery

Product details

  • Edition: 9
  • Latest edition
  • Published: January 23, 2026
  • Language: English

About the author

JR

John D. Ratliff

Affiliations and expertise
Surgical Technology Program Director, Guilford Technical Community College, Jamestown, NC, USA